After-School Activities Beneficial for Children With ADHD

Updated: May 8th 2018

TUESDAY, May 8, 2018 (HealthDay News) -- For children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), participation in after-school activities (ASA) is associated with reduced odds of moderate-to-severe ADHD and having seven or more missed school days, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies, held from May 5 to 8 in Toronto.

Yonit Lax, M.D., from Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and colleagues examined the prevalence of ASA participation among children with ADHD and the correlation between ASA participation and school functioning. A total of 4,185 children aged 5 to 17 years with ADHD were identified using data from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health.

The researchers found that 71.8 percent of the children participated in one or more ASA. ASA participation correlated with reduced odds of moderate-to-severe ADHD in adjusted analyses (adjusted odds ratio, 0.62; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.46 to 0.84). Lower odds of seven or more missed school days were seen in association with participation in ASA (adjusted odds ratio, 0.39; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.23 to 0.65). There was no significant correlation between participation in ASA with having one or having two or more calls home from school (adjusted odds ratios, 0.81 [95 percent confidence interval, 0.55 to 1.19] and 0.73 [95 percent confidence interval, 0.53 to 1.01], respectively).

"Children with ADHD who participate in ASA have lower risk of moderate-to-severe ADHD and missed school days," the authors write. "Efforts to optimize ADHD outcomes should consider engaging children and adolescents in ASA."